We are at the final Aspect on our rainbow journey of the 7 Systems of Health! This is the SPIRIT Aspect.
I can’t remember when I figured out that I was ‘spiritual’. Perhaps I’ve always believed in something Greater.
Though a “man-made” religion never felt like it was for me, I do find it difficult to believe that there’s not something more out there…
How can we not believe when we look all around us and realise how it is all so beautifully and intrically connected. Everything so finely fine-tuned to dance in synch and harmony. In balance. Surely that’s no coincidence?
To be honest, I don’t believe in extremes. Because when we’ve wandered too far either side of the spectrum we’ve lost that precious balance. Spirituality becomes religion and religion loses heart. It all becomes rigid and stuck.
Perhaps we don’t need strict rules to live a spiritual life? Maybe all we need to do, is to pause and open our eyes and other senses to all that is?
Within the 7 Systems of Health, the SPIRIT System is where we bring the most subtle elements of who we are, together.
We look at circadian rhythms, electromagnetic fields, and light. When it comes to lifestyle this is where looking at cleansing fits in, as well as being aware of toxicity in our food supply and environment.
The master gland for this System is the Pineal gland which is a tiny, pine cone shaped gland located pretty much in the middle of the brain, at about the same height as the point between our eyebrows.
This gland was the last endocrine gland whose function was discovered, and we may yet not know all that there is to know about it either. What we do know is that the Pineal gland secrets and regulates the production of melatonin which is our sleep hormone.
This is done through the recognition of light and darkness, through receptors. This regulation and recognition, is important to make sure that our 24h day-night cycle, circadian rhythm works as intended. Apart from being our body’s internal “clock”, melatonin also influences our reproductive organs and our immune system.
And if you’ve ever suffered with insomnia, or even a few sleepless nights, I won’t have to tell you about the effect this have on ones mental health, ability to make wise choices or to even function at all.
This Aspect of ourselves, can be considered our soul. In fact I read that the famous French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes was fascinated with the pineal gland. He even regarded it as the “principal seat of the soul, and the place in which all our thoughts are formed.”
So with that in mind, if we so wish and to ensure that this WHOLE system is in balance, it becomes important to look at what we feel is our (life) purpose.
The word CONNECTION becomes important here, which to me represents the spiritual underpinning that we are ALL connected.
Connected to eachother as humans, the interconnection between our body systems, and of course our larger connection to nature and all of life.
And although though religion belongs to the ROOT System, what you will find is that every major religion honours and teaches the importance and understanding of connection. So in a sense this is also how we circle back to the foundation and close the circle…
Lack of connection and a feeling of lack of purpose is one of the big imbalances you’ll find in this system. When we are feeling lonely, isolated and have a sense of hopelessness, it is most often because we’ve lost our connection. We feel dis-connected, which causes us to feel dis-ease and may eventually become disease. Because of course mind and body isn’t really separate.
So when do we lose hope and why? I don’t know if I feel totally qualified to answer a big philosophical question like this, but I’ll try doing it from my own experience.
Hopelessness can often come from a lack of connection when we feel misunderstood which in turn makes us feel alone. And when we feel alone or lonely we feel cut of from the rest of the world. When I look back at times in my own life where I have felt that hopelessness, it has almost always been because I lost connection as well as a sense of purpose.
Like those times when I’ve been in jobs in which I did not feel valued, respected and which did not give me a sense of satisfaction, rather they were just a means to an end. Which may be ok for a bit, just not indefinitely…
In an unsatisfactory intimate relationship, where again, I felt lonely, undervalued and “stuck”, but not sure how to get out of it and how to move forward.
And perhaps the biggest one of all, when I lost someone I loved and got struck by the pain of grief…
With some distance to these different events, some personal work and some self-reflection, I’ve come to believe that all these different kinds of hardships that we get handed in life, are part of our spiritual growth. It is in these times that we really need faith of some kind, as well as some guidance on how to live a life wholeheartedly.
These are the times that we will have to face head on the universal truth that we don’t have any control over what happens to us, only over how we choose to deal with it.
And here religion or any other type of spirituality is handy, maybe even essential for our survival, as we need tools to guide us so that we can pivot and grow, rather than becoming stagnant and stuck.
To me a big part of living a spiritual life is to take in the awe of nature. To stop and look up once in awhile and take in the grandeur of the starry night sky or (on the rare occasion that I’m up early) allowing myself to completely immerse myself in a beautiful sunrise.
This is being present. A gift. A gift which you can gift yourself, by paying attention to what’s going on around you as well as within you. Embrace it, try not to judge what is, and simply watch it unfold.
So with all of this I will give you my three suggestions for how you can nourish your SPIRIT through Food, Eating & Lifestyle
1. Food – Try minimising toxic exposure from your food as much as possible by choosing fresh, unprocessed foods, preferably organic as much as possible. Avoid drinking from plastic bottles or heating food in plastic as the toxic compounds from the plastic can leach into the food.
2. Eating- Give thanks to all of those who have provided you with your food. Gratitude is a powerful practice as a path to inner peace and happiness. The more we practice gratitude the more we realise all the things that we already have in our lives to be grateful for, which in turn brings us more to be grateful for. So why not start with the plate and your food? Doing this is also a beautiful way to acknowledge our interconnection with all of life.
3. Lifestyle – Do something that gives you meaning and fulfilment. Only you can know what this is. If you don’t yet feel like you’ve found your life’s calling or your higher purpose, then start small. Do ONE thing that gives you a sense of purpose and satisfaction. Perhaps it’s as simple as a random act of kindness? Or you give yourself permission to star gaze for 10 min? Or to finally go and buy those tubes of paint and a canvas to that you can play.
Whatever will fill your soul, do that. It is not only satisfying, it is also healing.
As we have now concluded our colourful journey through the 7 Systems of Health and we have traveled across the rainbow bridge from ROOT to SPIRIT, I will leave you with these words from what’s become one of my favourite authors, John O’Donohue;
“When the sense of destination becomes gracious, the journey can become an adventure of beauty”
If you want a recap of all the other Systems, you’ll find them here:
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